Section: Voice of America (USA)
Sources: Putin Ally Wins Right to Develop Prime Moscow Plot
A company with ties to an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin has won the right to develop a prime piece of Moscow real estate near the Kremlin, two sources familiar with the deal told Reuters. Moscow city government auctioned off the plot, which lies on the bank’s of the Moskva river and includes a number of historic buildings, and it...
Bodyguard Killed, MP and Two Others Wounded in Kyiv Blast
An explosion in Kyiv on Wednesday killed a bodyguard and wounded three people, including Ukrainian lawmaker Ihor Mosiychuk, Ukrainian officials said, describing the incident as a deliberate attack. Mosiychuk, a member of the opposition Radical Party, was hospitalized but did not suffer life-threatening injuries, while his bodyguard was killed,...
Russia Frees Two Pro-Kyiv Crimea Tatar Leaders from Jail
Russia has freed two prominent Crimean Tatar activists opposed to Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region, their lawyer said Wednesday. Ukraine’s leader thanked Turkey’s president for helping broker the release. Ilmi Umerov, deputy head of the Crimean Tatars’ semi-official Mejlis legislature before it was...
Companies in Ukraine, Russia Come Under New Cyberattack
A new strain of malicious software has paralyzed computers at a Ukrainian airport, the Ukrainian capital’s subway and at some independent Russian media. The Odessa international airport in Ukraine’s south, the Kyiv subway and prominent Russian media outlets such as Interfax and Fontanka on Tuesday reported being targeted. The...
UN Report: Inequality, Denial of Reproductive Rights Threaten Development
A U.N. report warns gender inequality and the denial of reproductive rights and family planning threatens development goals, weakens national economies and will undermine efforts to eliminate poverty by 2030. In its annual State of World Population report, the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) describes the poorest women in most developing countries...
Millions of People in Ukraine Are in Desperate Straits as Winter Approaches
The United Nations warns some 4 million people across Ukraine are facing a desperate situation as winter approaches and are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance to survive the bitterly cold months ahead. Ukraine is into its fourth year of war, a war that the United Nations estimates has killed about 10,000 people and injured more than 23,500...
Poland Expels Russian Historian Suspected of Hostile Actions
A Polish security official says Poland has expelled a Russian historian on suspicion that he acted against Poland’s interests. A spokesman for the minister in charge of state security, Stanislaw Zaryn, said Friday the man used his contacts among Polish historians and journalists to promote Russia’s viewpoint, to discredit Polish...
Hungary, Ukraine Clash Over Kyiv’s New Language Law
The foreign ministers of Hungary and Ukraine clashed on Thursday over Ukraine’s new law banning teaching in minority languages, with Budapest threatening to retaliate by blocking Ukraine’s aspirations to integration in the European Union. Hungary said on Tuesday it would ask the EU to review its ties with Ukraine over Kiev’s...
Russia’s Security Agency Detains 6 Crimean Tatar Activists
Russia’s domestic security agency said Wednesday it detained six people in Crimea accused of involvement in an extremist organization, a move described by one of the suspects’ lawyer as part of Moscow’s crackdown on the Crimean Tatars. Emil Kurbedinov, a lawyer for one of the six detainees, said that police also rounded up nine...
Danish Government Proposes Defense Budget Hike to Deter Russia
The Danish government wants to increase its defense budget by 20 percent over the next five years in response to Russia stepping up military activity in eastern and northern Europe. Much of the West has been troubled by Russia’s actions since its 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Black Sea peninsula Crimea and its support for separatist...
